Approaching Rivendell - 100 drabbles with Elrond Half-Elven
by The Winterwitch
Summary: 100 drabbles with Elrond Half-Elven trough the ages, focussing on the creation of and the living in Rivendell.
1. First Growth

Another take on the 100-drabble-challenge, this time in the Tolkienverse. I'm doing this just on my own outside any challenge community, though I took the liberty of using the prompt table of fanfic100 at livejournal.

The drabbles all have an exact word count of 100 as by my Apache Open Office (German edition).

**_Title_: First Growth  
**_Author_: Alcina vom Steinsberg/Winterwitch  
_Character_: Elrond  
_Prompt_: 62 - spring  
_Word count:_ 100 as by my Apache Open Office (German Edition)  
_Disclaimer_: Arda and her inhabitants belong to Tolkien. I'm just borrowing it for a little bit of fun.  
_Note_: Many thanks to Shadowycat for looking this over! Any remaining faults are my own.

* * *

**1. First Growth**

-(o)-

Slowly, Elrond ambled through Celebrían's garden, touching a branch with young leaves here, caressing a flower nearing its bloom there. So much beauty still to be found, he thought, years after its mistress went away.

Sometimes, he regretted the tempering influences Vilya had on the climate of his little haven. Here, summer never really left, fading into a moderate version of autumn, only to bloom back into full spring and then summer again.

He missed the bleakness of winter, missed the barren lands renewing faithfully each year their promise of new life, with tiny buds of the first, lush growth.

-(o)-


	2. A Thousand Years

**2. A Thousand Years**

(Prompt 93: Thanksgiving)

-(o)-

Elrond stood on his balcony, quietly observing his little realm, his haven, his stronghold. One thousand years ago to the day, they had reached the valley and found it the answer to their prayers. A place to survive, to fight for, to live, to prosper in secrecy.

Over the centuries, it had also become a place to exchange knowledge, ideas and beliefs, a place to meet for all peoples of Middle-Earth, a haven of peace.

Every year since, this anniversary was marked by his small people with a lavish celebration, a coming-together of friends and relatives from all over Middle-earth.

-(o)-

Many thanks to shadowycat for looking this over. Any remaining errors are my own.


	3. Sunrise

**3. Sunrise**

(Prompt 31: Sunrise)

-(o)-

She said she hadn't seen a proper sunrise since coming to Imladris, _ennin_ ago. It was true; the first rays of sunshine only reached the hidden valley well into the day.

He packed blankets and wine. They rode out over the Bruinen and into the plains, letting the horses run, laughing with freedom and joy. The valley behind them remained but a thought.

When they became hungry, she shot a hare, and he cooked it. Later, they watched the stars, and he told her about his father.

When the sun broke over the Hithaeglir, they had become husband and wife.

-(o)-

Many thanks to shadowycat for looking this over. Any remaining errors are my own.


	4. Sunset

**4. Sunset**

(Prompt 32: Sunset)

-(o)-

Elrond let his hand fall to his side. Even with his elven sight he was no longer able to see the small craft against the setting sun, sailing straight into the west, carrying his beloved wife to the Undying Lands.

He felt like stone, frozen from within.

"Come, _adar_, it's time." Two identical heads, dark like himself, came into his line of vision. Pain was etched deeply in their features, but at the same time they held a promise of youth and life he could not match.

But they needed him still. He could be strong for his children.

-(o)-

Many thanks to shadowycat for looking this over. Any remaining errors are my own.


	5. Delicious

**5. Delicious**

(Prompt 13: Yellow)

-(o)-

Stepping back, Elrond brushed his hands, admiring his handiwork.

The planting of the kitchen gardens came along nicely. This year, this tree might bear fruit for the first time, standing proudly in the centre of the herbal beds and strewn with large, white blossoms. _Cydonia Oblonga_ was native to Valinor, and, purely by chance, some seeds had made their way to Middle-Earth.

Few specimens still grew this side of the sea, and he was looking forward to the first harvest of the fragrant, golden yellow fruit that looked so much like those of Laurelin, and the delicacies made from them.

-(o)-

**A/N:**

"_Telperion bore at last upon a leafless bough one great flower of silver, and Laurelin a single fruit of gold._"

This quote from the Silmarillion crossed my mind when my quince tree, _Cydonia Oblonga, _bore fruit for the first time last year. Despite other descriptions of Laurelin's fruit, quinces with their unique colour and scent and their large fruit (of the 'Portugal' variety) now are planted firmly in my head-canon as the same. I have no doubt the elves would soon have discovered the culinary value of the fruit and the unique taste marmalades, jellies and sweetmeats made of it offer.

Many thanks to shadowycat for looking this over. Any remaining errors are my own.


	6. A New Home

**6. A New Home**

(Prompt 66: Rain)

Erestor stared glumly out into the rain.

They had retired to the caves when the heavy downpour interrupted the construction work on the house, fearing their tents might be washed away.

But Elrond was indefatigable. Not one to be intimidated by any kind of weather, he was outside right now, observing the swelling of the river to estimate whether they would need dams to protect the future buildings and living areas.

Now he was coming back, looking much like a drowned rat, but smiling widely. He crouched down over the fire, rubbing his hands.

"Good to be inside again".

-(o)-


	7. Luxury

**7. Luxury**

(Prompt 51 : Water)

Later, he began to explain what he had seen. He talked about flow rate and how they could guide the river to give them water power for the bellows of the smithy, a mill, and other things.

"We might even have running water in the house," he explained with a satisfied smile.  
"Just imagine, bathing rooms on every floor with no need to carry up the water. Though we'll need bathing furnaces in each of them.

This is going to be so exciting, Erestor. You'll see, we'll build ourselves a palace worthy of a king, and then some."

-(o)-


	8. Reality

**8. Reality**

(Prompt 64: Fall)

Still, Elrond's enthusiasm aside – this was going to be a stronghold first of all, a fortification to protect the survivors of the fall of Ost-in-Edhil, the last hope of putting a stop to Sauron's advance in Eriador.

So this was not to be a palace, but a fortress, with no place for comfort, barracks for as many warriors as the valley could hold, and the best defence plans the combined Noldor and Sindar forces could devise.

Peace was a dream, a pleasant dream, but one that had seemed to be unattainable since Melkor had brought discord into Ilúvatar's Music.

-(o)-


	9. Victory

**9. Victory**

(Prompt 22: Enemies)

There seemed to be no end to the stream of injured.

It hadn't been long until the defences of their refuge had been put to the test. Sauron's forces had besieged the valley when they couldn't conquer, cutting them off from badly needed supplies.

At last, the enemy yielded. They had won, had defended this valley and claimed it as their home. But at what price?

What once had been a people of thousands, populating Eregion, already badly decimated after the fall, had shrunken to mere hundreds, and of those, few were uninjured.

Elrond exchanged his sword for a scalpel.

-(o)-


	10. New Life

**10. New Life**

(Prompt 29: Birth)

A reproachful scream resonated through the room, painting delighted smiles on all assembled.

Relieved, Elrond placed the tiny girl into the arms of the new grandmother. He wasn't used to this, but just weeks after their arrival in the valley and without a midwife, it fell to him as one of the healers to assist with the birth of the very first resident.

The new mother was helped back on the bed, and her daughter placed on her belly. The radiance of her smile could have eclipsed the sun.

_There's no better symbol for hope than the wonder of birth._

-(o)-

Note: I'm sure elves are too experienced and wise to force their women to lie down while giving birth.


	11. Beginnings

**11. Beginnings**

(Prompt 1: Beginnings)

Ten years after they had come to the valley, they had begun to believe in a fragile peace.

No new assaults had happened in three years, no orc raids waylaid the travellers coming and going... and slowly, Imladris began to look like a permanent settlement.

The tents had vanished, and the hastily built wooden structures, meeting their most urgent needs at the beginning, were replaced, one by one, by solid, well-constructed stone buildings with shingled roofs. Even Elrond's old plans for water power and indoor plumbing had been realised, and the main house had become a very comfortable living space.


End file.
